Free Range Kids in Washington DC Area?

[Anonymous]

We're moving to the Washington area later this summer/fall and trying to decide where to live - our preference is a walkable neighbourhood (within walking distance of metro so we can be mostly car free). I wanted to ask you about your neighbourhoods and whether you allow your older children to roam around? Currently my 9 year old daughter roams around our neighbourhood here in Halifax, Canada after school and on weekends - sometimes alone - sometimes with friends - down to the corner store, to the neighbourhood park 5 blocks away, even takes the city bus 20 blocks away to her school. She loves her independence and we love her confidence - but Halifax is a very small town and our neighbourhood even smaller. Just wondering which neighbourhoods in NW DC, Northern Virigina, or Maryland have families that feel comfortable letting their kids roam? Where there actually are lots of kids out and about - we're looking for safety in numbers (difficult to find even here in Halifax).

[Anonymous]

We live in Somerset, just north of Friendship Heights in Montgomery County. It's a friendly n-hood with very clear geographical boundaries, so the kids have a fair amount of freedom. Our 9 y.o. daughter walks or bikes to school, the pool, and friends' houses within the Town of Somerset (roughly within 5 blocks of our home) by herself. She's allowed to go farther from home -- to the n-hood park (Norwood) and to the homes of friends who live a little farther away -- with a buddy. She's not allowed to walk to any store or restaurant without an adult, however. The nearest ones (in Friendship Heights, Bethesda, or at Kenwood Square) are in areas that are too busy or have too much traffic. Our teen-ager regularly takes bikes, walks or takes public transpo to school, baseball games, movies, friends' houses, etc., in MoCo, DC and VA. At night our rule is that he's got to be with a buddy if he's outside of the n-hood.

Bottom line: you can definitely find n-hoods throughout the area (DC, MD and VA) where your daughter will have a reasonable amount of freedom -- though probably not as much as she has now in Halifax. Other n-hoods to look at: in DC, Capitol Hill, Chevy Chase DC; in MoCo, Edgemoor, Town of Chevy Chase, Chevy Chase Section 3, Martin's Addition. This is not an exhaustive list, just off the top of my head. HTH.

[Anonymous]

I am the Mom of pre-school aged kids so this response is based on observation.

I have seen children that age walking around Chevy Chase DC as well as AU Park. Also, those neighborhoods have solid public elementary schools if you are interested in that route.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks very much for your thoughts. Those are the neighbourhoods we're most considering - because of the good things we've heard about the public schools, closeness to metro/city activities and the walkable neighbourhoods. We lived in DC 5 years ago (for 2 1/2 years) on O street in Dupont Circle when my oldest was a toddler and certainly liked the Georgetown/Embassy/Dupont Circle neighbourhoods, but don't think they are optimal choices now that we have school age kids (and are considering either public school or homeschooling for the year while we're in DC). We want to live in a neighbourhood where there are lots of kids actually going to the neighbourhood public schools.

[Anonymous]

PP here -- a couple of additional thoughts:
1) Definitely look for a n-hood with sidewalks -- they make it safer and easier to allow your kids to walk, bike and scooter through th n-hood without adult supervision.
2) Living in a n-hood with good public schools also helps b/c it increases the likelihood tht your kids will have friends living nearby, so you won't have to drive them everywhere. In addition, your family will get to know lots of other families, so you'll feel more comfortable allowing your children to go to the n-hood park and/or pool without you since other parents know your kids and can help them out if there's a problem, e.g., unexpected t-storm, bike has a flat, etc.

[Anonymous]

If you are planning to rent for a year or so, I would suggest Arlington VA- particularly the Clarendon area. The Lyon Park area (not Lyon village- although that's nice too) has a nearby school, two great parks, and a number of shops- plus the Metro is right there.